Research Program

The ICRC will complete four research projects between 2007 and 2012:

• Research Project 1: Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Cognition and Mood Following TBI: A randomized controlled trial is documenting the effects of aerobic (treadmill) exercise, using a wait list design. The question is: We know that such exercise improves cognition and reduces depression in non-disabled people, but will the same changes be seen in people with injuries to the brain? This project will also address the question of "How much exercise is needed to produce such changes?" This will be achieved by comparing changes associated with 8 weeks of exercise to changes seen at 16 weeks.
• Research Project 2: Short-term Executive Plus (STEP): A Randomized Controlled Trial of Short-term Intensive Cognitive Rehabilitation. In this project, STEP, an intensive program of rehabilitation for people with TBI who are past the acute stage of injury is being evaluated. STEP emphasizes training of attention, emotional self-regulation and problem solving. The goal is to maximize executive functioning, as well as the long-term outcomes of community participation and satisfaction with daily life.
• Research Project 3: Development of the Community Assessment of Needs (I-CAN) will develop a new approach to documenting needs of people who have experienced a TBI.
• Research Project 4: Validation of the Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire (BISQ): One aim of this project is to validate the BISQ by demonstrating that it can screen for unidentified TBI precisely, by differentiating people with mild TBI from those with other conditions in which cognitive symptoms are common, such as people who are depressed. A second aim is to replicate with a new sample the finding of an earlier study that 25 symptoms (mostly cognitive) are sensitive and specific to TBI.